Featured Small, unusual metal object

Hi folks! Dug this item up recently and it's got my attention, but I can't find anything in research. It's metal and magnetic but looks a little ornate for something to be hammered into a fencepost to hold a wire. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head(staple)sort of. It does look as though it was driven in to something and the hook held something like thick gage wire in place.

 

I vote "Barbed Wire Staple" also...........

 

Thanks to Lark and Rayo, have seen and put in a few fence posts in my time but have never seen such a well made staple! Anyway, it's different and an interesting design.

 

One other interesting thing is that if it was to be hammered into wood for example, it would be very sharp as in the picture above. This is far from sharp and is fairly rounded on the tip.

 

ok...then it's a tent peg.........for cats !

 

What was the context in which it was found? Was it in a rural area anywhere near a fence line?

Just some observations - The metal is soft enough that it was marked by pliers or vice grips, perhaps used to pull it out of whatever it was in.

This is odd if it is iron. It is also odd that there is no sign of rust if it was dug up (unless, of course, you have already cleaned it).

It appears too rounded to have served the most obvious function its shape suggests. It does not appear to have been struck on the head, from what we can see in the photo.

Is there any chance it may have been put through a rock tumbler, or other treatment that would have rounded the edges? (But then I would not expect the tool marks to be so crisp.)

It is a conundrum.

 

What country? It could be accidentally “ornate”. Maybe the mold was just wonky or something.

 

Possibly a bench dog, for woodworking or metalworking.

 

At 1 1/2" it seems small for that use, but the best idea so far.

 

Thanks peoples! The item in question was dug up in an old heritage house garden built in the 1870's. It seems it might have come in as fill as lots of bits of rubbish were coming up too, broken crockery and very old small castor wheel. It is how I found it after brushing the dirt off, no cleaning required, so it might be lead or pewter. Kind of soft for something you would hammer I would think. The house is in Australia by the way.

 

All good information that might have been helpful in the beginning of the thread. Lead or pewter better fits its appearance, but I don't know why it would also be magnetic.

 

True, I will endeavour to be more descriptive in the future. And you are right so I checked it again and it is definitely magnetic. Strange indeed.